Minimal desktops can be just as productive as the ones filled with widgets and tools, and this submission by Flickr user Tj Tantiangco proves the point. At first glance, it might look like little more than a login screen, but that's just because it's so clean and tidy. A great-looking wallpaper, a few well placed widgets, and moving everything else off-screen until it's needed makes all the difference.

If you want the same look, complete with the text labels for your commonly used apps, on your Windows system, here's what you'll need.

The Serenity skin for Rainmeter for the text icons and the recycle bin

That's all there is to it. Hide the taskbar and any desktop icons you may have, and you're all set. Clean, simple, and functional—and most importantly, it doesn't take up the kind of overhead that a lot of theme and skin-laden Rainmeter configs may, especially on lower-end systems. If you need a little help getting everything just right, why not take a look at our tutorial to Rainmeter for some hints, or drop by TJ's Flickr page to ask how he did it? Make sure to compliment him on a job well done while you're there!

If you're on a Mac, you can definitely do the same thing here with GeekTool and a little help getting started. Linux users can accomplish the same thing in a number of ways, using either shell themes or Conky to do the job.

Do you have a gorgeous, productive, informative desktop you'd like to see featured at Lifehacker? Post it to the Lifehacker Desktop Show and Tell Flickr Group, and please include a description of how you made it. You never know, it may be the next featured desktop!